


Prototype

by yeaka



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:55:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22125958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Elijah gives it one last shot.
Relationships: Main Menu Chloe | ST200/Elijah Kamski, Original Chloe | RT600/Elijah Kamski
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	Prototype

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Detroit: Become Human or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

He’s on the couch in the lounge, staring out the wide windows into the synthesized arboretum, when he hears it enter—one of the Chloes, _the_ Chloe; the first one he ever truly perfected. It walks across the floor with perfectly even steps, its bare toes ruffling through the carpet. Elijah turns his face to it, and for a brief moment, he sees a _woman_ : a pretty girl, his _dream girl_ : a blonde masterpiece in a little while dress. Then it reaches him and bends to serve him whisky. Elijah’s eyes don’t trail down its body, because he’s already intimately familiar with it. Chloe rises again and turns to leave.

Elijah sets his glass on the coffee table and says, “Chloe.”

Instantly, the android stops. It turns back to him and asks, “Yes, Elijah?” 

This one has earned the right to bypass his surname. It’s a little joke he likes to tell himself, because androids _have no rights._ He looks up into its blue eyes. It blinks, and for a moment, Elijah _almost_ sees something he could work with. 

He gives it a new order. He tells Chloe: “Convince me you love me.”

Chloe tilts its head. It looks at him for several seconds as though processing the request, though that should be instantaneous. Then it falls to its knees before him and places its delicate hands on its soft thighs. Its lovely eyes blow wide, so open and _honest_ , earnest, and its pink lips part to breathe so sincerely: “I love you, Elijah.”

He lifts a brow. That’s not good enough. Its tongue comes out to trace its bottom lip, and it tries again, “You are all I’ve ever wanted.”

Elijah mutters, “An android doesn’t want.”

Chloe looks undeterred. “I want you. I desire you. I can’t live without you.”

“You don’t live at all.”

Chloe blinks. It’s only spouting platitudes: phrases found in its databanks. He brings his hand to its soft face and cups its supple cheek, thumb brushing gently across its smooth skin. Chloe all but whispers, “Please. _I love you._ ”

They stare at one another: creator and creation, man and machine, master and pet. That’s all they are, and for the first time, he believes that’s all they’ll ever be. If this Chloe can’t change that, nothing ever will. He tells it, “Close.”

It smiles hopefully. Its brows knit together. It wears emotion so well. _She_ wears emotion so well.

He tells it, “But you failed.”

It adopts despair. He pulls away and leans back into the couch. When his touch recedes, so does all Chloe’s sentiment. Blank-faced, it stands. He tells it, “I’ll be giving you away to a special person tomorrow. You’re going to be their hostess. Run a self-diagnostic tonight and be sure you’re functioning properly.”

Chloe nods obediently and leaves.


End file.
